Primula sieboldii 'Westport'

Perennial cultivar of the Primulaceae family, belonging to the Cortusoides section. The type species is native to Japan, Korea, and northeastern China, where it grows in moist light undergrowth, fresh meadows, and shaded banks in plains and low mountains. In Japan, Primula sieboldii has been the subject of a traditional cultivation for several centuries, and hundreds of named cultivars have been selected over the centuries — a horticultural tradition unparalleled in the genus.

The plant reaches 20 to 30 cm in bloom and forms a supple clump, with deciduous foliage. The leaves are long-petioled, oval to heart-shaped, with a bullate surface and lobed-crenate margin, of a tender and bright green in spring. They disappear completely in summer, as the plant goes through the hot season in rhizomatous dormancy.

The 'Westport' cultivar is distinguished by its large flowers with widely spread petals, deeply cut and fringed at the edges, pure white to slightly washed with pinkish lilac depending on age and light, with a small discreet central eye. The buds are tinged with pink-lilac before anthesis, creating a delicate contrast with the open flowers.

In its natural habitat, the species blooms from April to June. In cultivation, 'Westport' blooms in April-May.

It requires fresh, humus-rich, well-drained but not drying soil, in partial shade. In cultivation, the foliage disappears in winter; the plant reappears the following spring. The sometimes mentioned summer disappearance seems related to a lack of water rather than a mandatory physiological rhythm.